John Elvis Harlin II (June 30, 1935 – March 22, 1966) was an American

alpinist Alpine climbing () is a type of mountaineering that uses any of a broad range of advanced climbing skills, including rock climbing, ice climbing, and/or mixed climbing, to summit typically large routes (e.g. multi-pitch or big wall) in an alpi ...

and US Air Force pilot who was killed while making an ascent of the north face of the

Eiger The Eiger () is a mountain of the Bernese Alps, overlooking Grindelwald and Lauterbrunnen in the Bernese Oberland of Switzerland, just north of the main watershed and border with Valais. It is the easternmost peak of a ridge crest that extends ...

at age 30.

Biography

Harlin graduated from Sequoia High School and

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

. Having established himself as a leading

alpine climber Alpine climbing () is a type of mountaineering that uses any of a broad range of advanced climbing skills, including rock climbing, ice climbing, and/or mixed climbing, to summit typically large routes (e.g. multi-pitch or big wall) in an alpin ...

with the first American ascent in 1962 of the '' 1938 Heckmair Route'' on the north face of the

, and the first ascent of the ''American Direct'' route on Les Dru, he conceived of climbing the Eiger by a '' direttissima'' (

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

for "most direct") route. Two thousand feet from the summit, his rope broke and he fell to his death in 1966. The

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

mountaineer

Dougal Haston Duncan "''Dougal"'' Curdy MacSporran Haston (19 April 1940 – 17 January 1977) was a Scottish mountaineer noted for his exploits in the British Isles, Alps, and the Himalayas. From 1967 he was the director of the International School of Mountai ...

, who had been climbing with Harlin, reached the summit with a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

party which joined forces to follow the same route, afterward named the ''Harlin route'' in his honor. The story of the climb was recounted in the book ''Direttissima: The Eiger Assault'' by the British author (and ground team member)

Peter Gillman Peter Gillman (born 1942) is a British writer and journalist specialising (but not exclusively) in mountaineering topics. Many of his books are co-written, mainly with his wife Leni Gillman. Early life and education Gillman attended Dulwich Colle ...

and Dougal Haston. In 1965, Harlin founded the "International School of Modern Mountaineering" in Leysin, Switzerland (the word "Modern" was later dropped from the title.) Harlin had previously worked as sports director at the

Leysin American School Leysin American School (also referred to as LAS), founded in 1960 by Fred and Sigrid Ott, is a co-educational private boarding school located in the alpine village of Leysin, Vaud, Switzerland. As of 2024, it is home to 300 students from over 60 ...

. Harlin's son, John Harlin III, who was nine at the time of his father's death, is also a mountaineer and was the editor-in-chief of the

American Alpine Club The American Alpine Club (AAC) is a non-profit member organization with more than 26,000 members. The club is housed in the American Mountaineering Center (AMC) in Golden, Colorado. Through its members, the AAC advocates for American climbers d ...

's ''

American Alpine Journal The ''American Alpine Journal'' is an annual magazine published by the American Alpine Club. Its mission is "to document and communicate mountain exploration." The headquarters is in Golden, Colorado. Subtitled as a compilation of "The World's ...

''. Harlin III, himself a climber and author of five books, recently climbed the Eiger by the original Heckmair route. He has written a book about his experience, ''The Eiger Obsession''. A film of the son's climb to exorcise the ghosts left by his father's death came out in May 2007: ''

The Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

'', an

Imax IMAX is a proprietary system of High-definition video, high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and movie theater, theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (image), aspect ratio (approximately ei ...

with footage of the north face of the Eiger as well as other Alpine peaks.

First ascents

* 1964 ''Cime de l'Est NE ridge'',

Dents du Midi The Dents du Midi (; French language, French: "teeth of midday") are a three-kilometre-long mountain range in the Chablais Alps in the canton of Valais, Switzerland. Overlooking the Val d'Illiez and the Rhône valley to the south, they face the L ...

, Valais, Switzerland. With

Chris Bonington Sir Christian John Storey Bonington, CVO, CBE, DL (born 6 August 1934) is a British mountaineer. His career has included nineteen expeditions to the Himalayas, including four to Mount Everest. Early life and expeditions Bonington's father, ...

and Rusty Baillie * 1965 ''American Direttissima'',

Aiguille du Dru The Aiguille du Dru (also the Dru or the Drus; French, Les Drus) is a mountain in the Mont Blanc massif in the French Alps. It is situated to the east of the village of Les Praz in the Chamonix valley. "Aiguille" means "needle" in French. The ...

, Mont Blanc Range, France. With

Royal Robbins Royal Robbins (February 3, 1935 – March 14, 2017) was one of the pioneers of American rock climbing. After learning to climb at Tahquitz Rock, Robbins went on to make first ascents of many big wall routes in Yosemite. As an early proponent o ...

References

External links

*Film clip fro
Eiger: Tragedy and Triumph.
Accessed 15 December 2012. 1935 births 1966 deaths American mountain climbers Mountaineering deaths Sport deaths in Switzerland Place of birth missing Sportspeople from Redwood City, California Sequoia High School (Redwood City, California) alumni Deaths on the Eiger {{US-climbing-bio-stub

Biography

First ascents

Further reading

References

External links